


For what it's worth

by clockwork_spider



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Gen, open dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 20:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15299634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockwork_spider/pseuds/clockwork_spider
Summary: Set in an AU where the kids split back into 4s. Serena has a talk with Akaba Leo.





	For what it's worth

“Hey Professor,” it was Serena’s voice that greeted him.

It hurts a little, to see Serena, who looked so much like Ray. It hurts to see the other three girls, each being quarters of a whole. It hurts to see Reiji, the child who’s suppose to be his son. Reminders that their world was incomplete, that his daughter, his one and only daughter, would never be whole again.

Leo acknowledged the child with a small nod. Serena took a seat beside him. She never feared him, Leo was grateful for that.

A moment of silence followed.

“Yuri looks up to you,” Serena started.

Leo waited for a follow-up, there was none.

“I don’t think it’s wise, for me to have any more influence on that child.” It took some time for him to piece together the implications.

“He has a lot of pride, and doesn’t really listen to anyone. But he does look up to you, as does a lot of students of the Academia. Just as I did,” she said, fist curled, eyes sharp. Ray used to do the same.

“It’s because you’re children,” Leo said, frankly. Children were easy to mould into soldiers. He didn’t know how to turn soldiers back into children, though.

Serena paused.

“I didn’t grow up with a father, or a brother, or friends, but for what it’s worth, you were there for me.” She said, still looking straight at him.

“You didn’t have a very happy childhood. I’m sorry,” Leo answered, and meant it. She wasn’t his daughter. But if Ray was not meant to be, he wished, at least, that this girl could have grown up happy.

“You put a roof over my head, fed me, and taught me how to duel,” Serena shrugged, “I hate… what you made of us. But it doesn’t change the fact that we still look up to you.”

And to that, Leo didn’t know how to answer.

“Lead by example,” the young girl commanded, “Apologize for the crimes of Academia and denounce your mistakes. And go talk to Yuri.“

“You’ve spoken with Reiji,” Leo guessed. He recognized those words, they didn’t belong to Serena.

“He looked up to you too, once upon a time,” she said.

Leo thought of Reiji. Willful, stubborn, selfless Reiji. The child he was never there for. The child he once called his son, but couldn’t anymore, and asked, “will you tell him I’m sorry?”

“No,” Serena said, “but you will.”

Akaba Leo never believed in apologies. He believed in solutions. What’s the point of feeling sorry if you can’t fix your mistakes?

But sometimes, apologies will have to make do. Apologies can be a start.


End file.
